


this love has taken its toll on me

by smoakoverwatch



Series: Olicity + William [5]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Bickering, F/M, Family Dynamics, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 20:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11721771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoakoverwatch/pseuds/smoakoverwatch
Summary: It occurs to Felicity that, while everyone else in their lives had pretty much accepted that Oliver and Felicity’s near-constant fighting was par for the course, William had not.





	this love has taken its toll on me

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this idea came from, really. I also don't know why I, a person with no kids, has been writing all these William related fics this hiatus.
> 
> This was supposed to be much shorter, but Oliver and Felicity wanted to fight more. I'm still not entirely sure if the details surrounding their bad guy make sense, but just go with it. As most things I write, this was late at night with no sleep, so excuse any errors.
> 
> Enjoy!

 In retrospect, it was kind of inevitable.

It had been a long week for Team Arrow. A drug dealer had taken the Glades by storm with a synthetic drug that targeted the city’s most vulnerable youth. Six kids had died already.

At first it seemed relatively easy, drug dealers in the Glades were like the team’s bread and butter. Some nights Oliver treated them as his warm up before taking on bigger fish (Felicity would, of course, never voice this observation of hers, but she did find it kind of funny).

This one proved to be more complicated than that.

For starters, all they had was a surname, Kane, which they weren’t even entirely sure about to begin with.

On Monday, Dinah walked in furious with the discovery that there had been mole in the SCPD that had been helping Kane this entire time, “ _right under my freaking nose.”_

Tuesday, Felicity discovered that Kane’s operation was larger than Star City, and far larger than just destroying a few underprivileged teens’ lives.

She would never really figure out Kane’s motive because on Wednesday, there was a breach attempt in the Mayor’s office system, specifically emails between him and the chief of police about this issue, which incensed both Oliver and Felicity in particular.

Therein lied the origins of the inevitable fight.

It was a bit ridiculous, really. All Felicity had suggested was that she come down to his office at night and check out who exactly would try and poke at a system _she_ designed to be, well, un-pokable.

But Oliver had decided that whatever this was had to be connected to Kane – because, all drug dealers are also tech experts, right? – and the Mayor’s office was too dangerous for her to go into.

That started the yelling.

“ _Too dangerous?”_ She asked incredulously. “I go to your office every day for lunch and most nights for dinner. I sit in a bunker that’s been breached by Damien Darhk, Adrian Chase and Malcolm Merlyn god knows how many times.”

“We know Kane has an in with the police department,” Oliver responded angrily, “we don’t know how far up it goes. For all we know the office isn’t safe from a mole either. You can come by tomorrow during the day if you want.”

He turned away as if to end the discussion, which only irritated Felicity more.

“Oliver, are you kidding? Absolutely not,” she walked around him to meet his eyes once more, “this is serious, and it needs to be dealt with tonight. I’m going, and you can either sit down here and brood about it or be my backup just in case.”

She watched as he tried to suppress an exasperated sigh. “People try and get into systems every day, Felicity. Don’t turn this into an argument.”  His dismissal only made her anger climb.

“You were just saying this could be Kane,” she remarked coldly. “And besides. This is _my_ system. That makes it personal.”

In the end, she got her way (she always does, if either of them were being honest).

But the sweet feeling of victory over Oliver was shortly surpassed by three men, masked and armed, storming into Oliver’s office (Felicity didn’t even want to think about all the security they had to get through) and cornering her by the computer.

Everything ended up being fine, of course, because Oliver was hanging (possibly literally, she didn’t ask) outside the window and wasted no time bursting in and taking them all down.

Though, when she tried to explain _that_ part to Oliver, he didn’t quite see it as she did.

“I _told you_ this would happen,” he fumed as they went down the elevator to the bunker, “exactly this. If I had been a second too late –“

“You would have still probably been able to take them with one hand behind your back,” she rolled her eyes and walked to her computers.

The rest of the team cleared out hours ago, so it was just them as Oliver changed out his Green Arrow suit and she packed their things up.

When her phone lit up, singing her familiar alarm, Felicity groaned. It was 5:30 am. Usually they packed up their nights a few hours before this and would manage to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before work, but tonight she’d lost track of time completely.

And after the week she’d been having both at work _and_ with Team Arrow, Felicity really wanted to sleep.

She informed Oliver quietly when he stepped out in his day suit, almost whining when she said they had just enough time to shower and change before work.

He didn’t respond – silent treatment, how very 2013 Oliver of him – and simply led the way to their car, knowing neither of them had the energy to continue their fight from earlier just yet.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by as any day with no sleep would – Felicity felt exhausted all day, with no amount of large coffees helping the way her bones felt fifty pounds heavier as she moved around the office.

She was less than participatory in her morning meeting, which her assistant tried to comment on before being met with a look that would probably put one of Oliver’s to shame.

By the time 3 pm rolled around, Felicity was positive that she’d done nothing productive with her day.

She sent out a message to the team, suggesting that they all take the night off to regroup and take a much-needed break from a crazy week.

Everyone was more than happy to agree. Well, Oliver didn’t respond, but she assumed that a lack of protest from him meant he had to agree as well.

With that, she decided that she could take a page out of Oliver-Queen-as-CEO-handbook and leave for work early, silently promising that she’d put in a little more conscious effort into her day job tomorrow.

When she arrived home, it seemed as though Oliver had the same idea as her, as they met in the parking garage with awkward greetings.

The elevator ride up was tense and silent, as though neither of them had forgotten about the events of the morning before and weren’t going to be the first to drop it.

They were both exceptionally good at being stubborn in that way.

When they entered their home, William was already home (Oliver had learned to slowly be comfortable with him taking the bus to and from school) and watching tv in the living room, absently giving the pair a wave as they entered.

They walked into their room with the same silence, changing out of their work clothes as if the other person was not there.

She hated it.

She hated everything about their fights, but this part – the tense, awkward silence – was the worst part in her eyes. It was the world’s worst kept secret that she was chatty, but Oliver himself had grown to be especially talkative throughout the course of their relationship.

It made days like today especially difficult, where she had dozens of things she wanted to talk to him about – her day, his day, something she saw on the news this morning – on the tip of her tongue, but the fight that loomed over their heads made it impossible for her to let them out.

They managed to avoid each other for the rest of the evening, when Oliver busied himself with preparing dinner and Felicity helped William with his math homework.

“Hey guys,” Oliver said quietly, “food’s ready.”

“What are we having?” William asked, all too eager to clear his books off the dining table.

“Brown rice and chicken,” Oliver responded he set the dishes down in the centre.

She couldn’t help it. It was a reflex. She hadn’t slept a minute last night, okay?

She groaned.

Oliver’s eyes slid to her. “Something wrong with that?’ he asked, jaw clenched.

“Brown rice tastes like cardboard.” She muttered, feeling oddly childish. He knows this, they’ve been over it a few times (usually in a lighter manner), but this time feels different.

“It’s good for you,” he snapped, “maybe you should just do what’s best for once.”

She raised her eyebrows. This wasn’t about food anymore.

“And maybe you should learn that not everything that’s pragmatic isn’t what we should do.” She bites back.

He looked at her, mouth gaping, before glancing at William – whose eyes had grown wide – and shutting it again.

“Let’s just eat,” he said, looking down at his plate.

“Fine.”

Neither of them spoke to each other for the rest of dinner, letting William carry the conversation for them.

It was only until they were in the privacy of their bedroom that they exploded once more.

“So,” she said with a mocking smile, “are you going to give it to me or what?”

_Don’t comment on how suggestive that sounds. Don’t even blush._

He raised his eyebrows challengingly. “What?”

She titled her head to the side. “Oh, come on,” she drops to the edge of the bed. “I know you’ve been waiting all day, stewing, thinking about last night.”

It did the trick.

“It was so unbelievably reckless,” he exploded, “and you were too stubborn to see the risks. Anytime we go to the Mayor’s office as the team, do you have any idea what kind of risks you’re putting on our identities?”

At this point his reasoning was just insulting. “Oliver, please,” she stood up again, since he refused to sit down, “we’ve been doing this for years. We know the risks. Sometimes this happens. And I know it’s been long enough that you aren’t so… _pigheaded_ to believe that I can never go out in the field. Sometimes, these things happen. I’ve been through far worse by now.”

“And you should know by now how many times things go wrong.” His voice began to climb. “and I haven’t even _begun_ to talk about how you left for the office before I was even done changing into my Green Arrow suit. What, did you think I wouldn’t have noticed that?”

She threw her hands in the air. “By one minute, Oliver, one. Because I knew you would take your bike and make up that time. And all of this is moot anyway because nothing. Happened.”

“Yeah, I’ll say,” he said angrily, “did you end up figuring out who got to our system Felicity? Was it worth it?”

Her mouth dropped open and she had to snap it shut before she said something she would regret. “It’s been a very long day,” she said quietly, “neither of us have slept. I suggest we put a pin in this until tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

She wasted no time climbing into her side of the bed as he went to the washroom, closing the lamp that sat on her nightstand and turning away from him.

She felt his side of the bed dip down, and could almost picture him looking over at her as he sighed and the click of his own lamp plunged their room into darkness.

She felt the weight if his hand briefly make contact with her arm – just a second – before he turned the other way himself and fell asleep.

* * *

While it wasn’t the worst, Felicity had a terrible night’s sleep.

She always did whenever a day ended with her fighting Oliver.

When she woke up, the space next to her was empty. That might have been mildly alarming if she didn’t already know that he had an interview with a morning news show and had to leave early. But it didn’t help the way fights always made her feel a little hollow inside.

It left Felicity and William alone for breakfast, the young boy uncharacteristically quiet for the morning. When she offered to give him a ride instead of letting him take the bus, he only nodded shyly, giving her a weary look she couldn’t quite recognize.

He was quiet the entire ride, which only made Felicity’s nervousness climb. She stole glances out of the corner of her eye the entire way in, but chose not to say anything.

When they reached his school, she put her car in park.

“Alright,” she stopped his hand as it reached for the seatbelt, “what’s going on, kid? And don’t say nothing.” She added he tried to brush it off.

William looked at the dashboard for a few seconds before speaking. “I heard you guys yelling.” He mumbled.

She furrowed her eyebrows.

“Last night,” he started to pick at a hangnail on his thumb. “In your room, I could hear the two of you arguing about something. I don’t know what it was, but I never really heard you guys yell like that before.”

Something that never had before occurred to her. That everyone else in their lives had pretty much accepted that Oliver and Felicity’s near-constant fighting was par for the course, but William had not.

Felicity reacted immediately, reaching out and putting her own hand on his, “William, it was just a fight, we’re fine.”

He continued as if he didn’t hear her. “And then Oliver wasn’t here this morning and I –“

“Hon, he just had some work stuff in the morning, you knew that. He’d never just leave you like that.”

William finally looked up, and what he said next cut straight through Felicity’s heart. “It’s not me I was worried about.”

She froze, unsure of what to make of this turn in conversation.

“It’s just that,” he continued, “you guys had broken up once already –”

“Will –”

“And I don’t really know why.” Of course not. They would never tell him, knowing full well that the young boy would take the blame on himself, even if that was far from the truth. “Nobody really does, and you don’t need to tell me, that’s okay, but when I heard you guys fighting – it just sounded so serious – I got worried.”

She watched helplessly as the tears started to collect in his eyes.

“Felicity I – I don’t want you guys to break up. I don’t want to lose you.” He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Hey, hey,” she reached over her seat, belt digging into her side, and put her hands on his face. “You’re not going to lose me.” She used her thumb to brush away a tear that escaped.

“Oliver and I used to fight way before we were together. All the time. We fought after, the year we were broken up, and now. That wasn’t our first fight and it definitely won’t be our last. Hon, couples fight. It doesn’t mean we love each other any less.”

William took a deep breath and nodded. “Besides,” she forced her voice to stay light, even if her own throat was feeling oddly tighter, “after everything we’ve been through, it’s going to take a lot more than one little argument for you to get rid of me, okay?”

“Okay.”

She smiled. “Good. Are you going to be okay?” she asked as he wiped his eyes.

“I will.”

“Okay. I’ll come and sign you out for lunch today, and you, me and Oliver can get burgers and fries. How does that sound?” she asked with a nudge.

“It sounds great,” he responded with a small smile, before saying his goodbyes and exiting the car.

Felicity pulled out the school parking lot, and instead of heading for her office drove to City Hall.

It didn’t take her long to find him. He was in a conference room with a makeshift workstation set up because the Green Arrow broke his office’s windows and they wouldn’t be replaced until after the weekend.

“Knock knock,” she said at the door.

When he looked up from his laptop, his eyes lit up before dimming slightly. “Hi,” he said wearily.

She walked towards him. “I know we left things off in a… not good place last night.” when she reached his chair, she leaned over and intertwined their fingers. “But I hate fighting with you.”

He responded instantly, putting his one free hand on her cheek. “I hate risks that put you in danger, Felicity, you know that.” he said quietly.

“I know,” she leaned into his touch, missing it after days. “but you know why we have to take them sometimes.”

He sighed. “I know.”

They don’t need to use the words ‘I’m sorry’ anymore – they’re far beyond that for little things like this – so they don’t. Instead, Felicity leans down and gently presses her lips against his.

It didn’t take long for them to get lost in each other, before Oliver pulled away with a chuckle and reminded her that this isn’t like his office.

She shyly got up from his lap (just when did she land there?) and cleared her throat, trying to restore some dignity to the conversation.

“By the way, your son was very worried about us this morning, so I promised that we’d all go out for lunch today, okay?”

Oliver raised an eyebrow, presumably ready to ask a million questions, before he just shook his head. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

She smiled gave a little mock curtsey. “Good,” she said as she exited the room, feeling significantly lighter than she did when she entered, “I’ll see you then.”

She didn’t miss the warm smile he gave before she left.

* * *

The three of them did get lunch – an afternoon that would later become William’s favourite memories – telling stories about their days and exchanging laughs and jokes. Felicity didn’t miss the way William eyed Oliver and her own joined hands on the table as they spoke.

All of them were fairly new at this, and days like today highlighted it more than others. That parenting was more than just making sure William was okay and had everything he needed. That they now had one more team to consider in everything they did.

They were an unconventional family – two vigilantes with full time day jobs and their ten-year-old son, but the three of them? They would make it work just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> twitter - smoakoverwatch  
> tumblr - overwatchandarrow


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